125 The Sewers; Operation Begins

12 hours later.

In the square in front of Night Corp headquarters, a large command center formed by several NCPD tents stood, with the intention of coordinating the joint operation about to take place.

In the makeshift camp, the atmosphere was hectic. Night Corp personnel and NCPD technicians moved tirelessly between tents and booths, ensuring all equipment was operational.

However despite the work, a sense of concern hung in the air as they passed by the large tent where the two forces, tasked with carrying out the operation, had gathered. Due to the tense atmosphere inside.

The two groups were clearly divided, their disdain evident, without hiding their glances of disgust, even escalating to insults. Worrying anyone who saw them, it seemed as though they were on the brink of a large-scale pitched battle at any moment.

The NCPD Agents did not understand what they were doing working alongside the quasi-criminal mercenaries, and vice versa, with the mercenaries not understanding what they were doing alongside the corrupt NCPD agents.

The inevitable happened when an agent named Simmons, adorned in his NCPD blue uniform and his regulatory cap, crossed paths with a burly mercenary ironically named Viper. With a disdainful look, Simmons remarked, "I don't know whose idea this was, but they really must be desperate to accept help from criminals like all of you."

"Ahhhh! Help?" Viper, the hefty mercenary, retorted loudly. "What the hell are you talking about, 'Birdie'? We're only here because they're paying us what you make in half a year for our 'help.'"

Seeing Simmons' sour expression, Viper laughed and added, tossing Simmons' cap to the ground with a flick of his chubby fingers, "Hahaha, so if you're done barking, scram, badge thief."

Viper's words carried a venom that outraged Simmons as he picked up his cap, and prompted him to do the opposite, confronting the mercenary with a couple of colleagues who joined him after hearing Viper mock their low wages.

One of the reasons corruption thrived within the force.

The confrontation escalated with shoves and a few punches, nearing the feared full-blown battle between the two forces supposed to work together in a few minutes.

Suddenly, one of the operation supervisors from NCPD advanced on the small stage, a few inches high, and, without removing his glasses, after contracting his bushy mustache in disgust at the scene, Sergeant Max Hammerman shouted in a firm tone, "QUIET!"

Both groups stopped with contrasting reactions; the agents stood at attention while the mercenaries did so reluctantly, as they gived the lieutenant defiant looks.

Unfazed, the lieutenant continued with his powerful voice that needed no microphone to resonate in the large tent, "We have a job to do. So, stop behaving like children."

"Fortunately, I have something that will make you understand and be grateful that we are bringing these 'charming' mercenaries with us on our little field trip. And, at the same time, it will make our dear travel companions appreciate and understand the high price for their company."

"In 25 minutes, we will venture into enemy territory. I know my words may sound exaggerated, but according to the information we have about the possible number of enemies and their combat strength, it's the right way to approach what awaits us."

The sergeant paused to play a short clip. In the Mobile Command Center behind the sergeant, almost resembling an improvised wall of the tent, a large holographic screen lit up on the side of the NCPD navy-blue truck. The clip showed an aerial view from an AV, with more than 40 Cybersycos surrounding 3 Delamain taxis.

The scene transitioned to a body cam view in combat against 4 of those same highly modified Cybersycos charging recklessly toward the cam user. 

Despite firing his heavy machine gun, the Cybersycos pressed on, indifferent to their own lives, relentlessly pursuing him. Their suicidal determination led to injuring him, almost proving fatal if not for the timely intervention of his Max Tac teammates, who saved Blitz—the owner of the body cam

Contrary to preconceived notions, the survival instinct still persisted in most Cybersyco attacks, heightened by the paranoia associated with Cybersycosis.

Hence, the uncomfortable reaction from everyone present, who shared a rough breath upon witnessing the suicidal attitude of the enemies that awaited them. Although the video successfully reduced the opposition between the two groups considerably, it wasn't over.

The next scene once again featured footage from a new body cam, mounted inside an AV just moments before it was taken down by a fully functional and operational Unification War Chimera of Militech within the city.

All the agents of the Ncpd were taken aback, as well as the Mercenaries. Even the most seasoned ones frowned at the sight of a Chimera taking down an AV with a single cannon shot.

Before complaints could arise, the video concluded with another clip from Frost's body cam, broadcasting the final seconds of the Chimera.

It showed one of the Mercenaries in charge of the operation, who was standing in front of them, speaking nonchalantly with the fixer hired by Night Corp, thanks to his recommendation to the ceo, Rogue, and the other Merc in charge, Morgan Blackhand. 

In the clilp, he was frantically firing a heavy machine gun perched on the back of the Chimera. Along side with the sexy Max Tac agent standing behind the Sergeant, who gracefully leaped, spinning around herself before embedding her mantis blade into the Chimera's lens.

"Now that you understand a bit better what we're up against..." the Sergeant began to outline the plan that would be carried out.

"The objective of the operation is to stop the individual behind the destruction of Night Corp servers buildings, currently referred to by the alias 'Master.'"

Alongside the Sergeant's explosion, the Mobile Command Center's holographic screen displayed a digital map of the city.

"We'll split into four teams, no need to overthink it. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta will access the sewers from four different points in the city to cover more ground."

From the square where they stood, four different lines emerged, heading towards Little China in the Watson district, Charter Hill in Westbrook, Wellspring in Heywood, and Arroyo in Santo Domingo.

"Inside the sewers, we'll neutralize any enemies we encounter along the way," the Sergeant continued, and a nearly labyrinthine map of the sewers was displayed.

"We'll move to a rendezvous point where Alpha-Beta and Gamma-Delta teams will converge, respectively." The four points with the letters A, B, G, and D over them shifted and merged as A-B and G-D. "Once regrouped, we'll repeat the process, regroup again, and continue descending... until we reach the city's underground."

"Once regrouped, we'll repeat the same process, regroup once again, and continue descending... until we reach the city's underground."

The briefing on the operation and the implications of carrying it out, considering the strength displayed by that Master "..." silenced the combined force. Unperturbed by the meaning behind the sudden silence, the Sergeant raised his voice again. "Any questions?"

Looking at the more than 50 raised hands, the Sergeant nodded understandingly and said, "Alright! Your questions will be answered by the 'experts' who have gathered most of the information we have."

The Sergeant stepped back, not without lowering his sunglasses a bit and looking somewhat mockingly, passing the 'buck' to his two counterparts in the operation, in charge of leading the Mercenary force.

After taking Morgan's blow to accept the outcome of the rock, paper, scissors round on the matter, Sora reluctantly stepped forward and stood in front of the intimidating joint force made up of over 200 Mercenaries and NCPD Agents.

They all stared at one of the commanders of the Mercenary forces with a mix of emotions, ranging from respect, acceptance, to displeasure, distrust, and envy.

Nevertheless, the said Mercenary remained oblivious to their looks, preoccupied with deep thoughts about something that had been bothering—his two parts.

"We've definitely been faster than him..." "Then how the hell did we lose to Morgan!?" "We won the previous round without a problem..." "Did he cheat?" "No, I reviewed the memory frame by frame and found nothing." "Then... that old man must have anticipated our moves."

""Shit!"" Sora and his Soulcode exclaimed simultaneously in his mind, expressing his annoyed outwardly, trying to shake off the back of his head but finding his helmet instead of his black hair.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, with some people still having their hands raised, Sora, after finally accepting having drawn the short straw, focused his attention on the more than 200 men and women in front of him. "Huh?" he was surprised when he saw some familiar faces within the NCPD group, some even with their hands raised.

This instantly lifted Sora's mood, and a broad smile grew beneath his helmet. Without wasting another moment, Sora pointed to a certain agent without hesitation and exclaimed, "Yes, the pig—uh, I mean, the cop with the mustache, the one who looks like a porn actor from over half a century ago."

The sudden way of referring to Juan Mendez,, the cop who almost killed him after the firetruck incident years ago, elicited laughter among the mercenaries and a few NCPD agents.

Mendez had the fortune, or misfortune, depending on how you see it, of keeping his badge... but the rest of his life was a series of disgraces. As if a vengeful spirit or a resentful Mother, or both, had cursed him and were reveling in his suffering.

A few days after the incident with Sora, Mendez's bad luck began with something small—he couldn't access his bank account due to a mysterious error that closed it. Nevertheless, Mendez had his illegal gains from accepting bribes and engaging in a few more shady deals safely tucked away in his apartment, that he thought he could use while the problem with his bank was being fixed.

Upon leaving his shift that same day, he found his apartment in ruins after a "sudden" fire that burned all his possessions, including the Eddies he had hidden.

Homeless and penniless, Mendez tried to stay at his girlfriend's apartment, but she awaited him with photos of his infidelities, losing his partner on the same day as well.

His streak of bad luck concluded a few days later when all his colleagues at the precinct started receiving anonymous emails with evidence, exposing Mendez's corrupt activities—accepting bribes and extorting small businesses.

Even though Mendez thought it was all over and that he would finally lose his badge, surprisingly, he faced no consequences. On the contrary, he received a small promotion, he will not earn more and will have to work longer hours.

But for his fellow officers, it wasn't fair. It seemed as if Mendez had some truly powerful connections that prevented him from being kicked out of the force and even got him promoted—a terrible thing about rumors that sometimes... are right. All of this made Mendez the object of resentment among all his colleagues, turning him into a pariah within the force.

"How many enemies can we expect?" Mendez asked, visibly upset. "Many. Next!" Sora quickly responded, pointing to a new raised hand, ignoring Mendez's reasonable question.

"?" The next person Sora pointed to hesitated before asking if his answer would be as "complete" as the previous one. Sighing, Sora casually snapped his fingers, pointing to the holographic screen at the Mobile Center.

This caused the dark eyes of the sergeant to widen behind his glasses after suddenly losing control over it. On the holographic screen, a graph appeared with five lines of different colors that gradually ascended diagonally between the two axes. The lines disagreed in values but maintained the same overall shape throughout the graph.

"New York, Washington D.C, Seattle, San Francisco, and Night City," Sora said, pointing with his finger to each line in the graph corresponding to each city. "?" With question marks on the faces of the audience, Sora continued.

"This graph shows the statistical count of the homeless population in the top 5 most populous cities in N.U.S.A in the last 5 years." Understanding the meaning of the graph, those present were surprised to note that Night City, in the last 3 years, had descended from the second position with San Francisco leading, to the second-to-last place among the 5 cities.

"Before anyone rushes to congratulate the Mayor's chubby. I'm sorry, but Night City... remains the same old shit hole, even these seemingly good data... are the results of a fuck up reality. 

We believe the Master has been sheltering the homeless of the city for 3 years, hiding them in the Landfield. Enough to influence the statistical level. We could be talking about a four-digit number or even higher."

Sora's honest response silenced the audience in front of him. Understanding it, Sora pointed to the next raised hand. 

Questions varied, from the dangers to be aware of to whether there was any way to save the people being hacked.

Sora talked about the black cylinders and the potential friendly fire. Regarding the salvation of the "Hollows" (formerly "Empties"), he mentioned information obtained by Night Corp from examining their lifeless bodies, explaining the difficulty of rescuing most due to their deteriorated brain state and cyberware made from scrap, which made it nearly impossible to safely remove.

(Author's note: I'm an idiot; With a sword named Getsuga, it makes more sense for it to battle against Hollows. So from now on, "Empties=Hollows.")

Nevertheless, Sora mentioned, without naming them, cases like Gear, highly modified with quality cyberware, and were indeed possible to save. Even mentioning a bonus for each person with these characteristics that they could neutralize without, of course, killing.

While he was answering what would be the last question about how they planned to find the Master...

"Technicians from both Night Corp and the NCPD, along with Netrunners among the Mercs, will be equipped with devices to examine the source of the signal directing them to the enemies. Additionally, each team will be accompanied by our latest guests, who will be responsible for dealing with the Master if any of the groups encounters him."

Two black off-road vehicles were given permission to access the camp, coming to a stop right in front of the tent.

Upon seeing them, Sora smiled under his helmet and, turning towards the Mercs, especially the Netrunners, said, "Hide your illegal Daemons and welcome the Netwatch agents who will be accompanying us."

Unconcerned about the hundreds of eyes on him, Sora approached the six Netwatch agents who emerged from the off-road vehicles and greeted one of them, as he always did, grabbing onto the agent's forearm and giving a familiar hug with the other arm.

Surprising Hiroyuki's comrades of Netwatch with his familiarity with the Mercenary.

Meanwhile, Hiroyuki, in the midst of his greeting, taking advantage of the fact that no one could hear them, said, "Oi, Sora, what the hell have you done this time?" Anxious that Sora was involved with a dangerous AI again, sure that he knew more than he had reported to Netwatch.

"What!? I haven't done anything!"

-

With all the Mercs and NCPD agents aboard their respective armored vehicles and four of the six Netwatch agents assigned to the teams, the more than 80 vehicles comprising the joint force began to depart from the camp.

The area was completely covered by media deployment with AVs and drones hovering, broadcasting live as the large convoy of vehicles left the camp and split in four directions. As they dispersed, the media also separated to continue covering the news.

Leaving the spotlight of their cameras on the now calm camp, Sora approached an unmarked black off-road vehicle. Upon entering, he casually greeted the two out of three people inside with a 'What up,' trying to lighten the tense atmosphere in the vehicle. The arrangement of the two rows of rear seats didn't help, positioned in a way that passengers were face-to-face with each other.

Without having to imagine too much about the reason, Sora looked directly at the source, the third occupant of the car, with lime-colored hair and eyes that were almost slits. He corrected his displeased gaze to Gear and Jackie upon sensing the intense blue stripes of Sora's helmet on him.

"Have they all left? Shouldn't we follow them?" asked Jackie, who insisted on accompanying Gear after learning about the deal with Night Corp.

"Nah, we still have a couple more minutes. Let old Morgan make some noise and shake the hive... Once the coast is clear, we'll make a back door," replied Sora as he settled into the car. Sitting in front of them.

Although the meeting with Night Corp went well, and Gear had provided valuable information about the Master, explaining how it used the attacks on Night City's poorly guarded servers to obtain the blueprints of the city's underground.

Even marking three areas in the underground where the Master ordered them to search thoroughly.

Still, there was a problem due to the extensive area that Gear marked, with a radius of a couple of kilometers due to gaps in her memories. Sienna's viperous assistant used this to cast doubt on Gear's information, labeling it as an attempted scam or hoax.

This led to the current situation where, before Gear could collect the Eddies she needed to recover, she had to personally guide them to delineate the marked area. Sora and Morgan recommended the creation of a joint force as a distraction. Morgan would strike the hive to clear the way for Sora to search and confront the Master directly.

Sienna's viperous assistant, observing Sora's nonchalant attitude despite knowing the pressure his boss was under, said, "Mercenary, I hope your plan..."

Sora wasted no time interrupting the bothersome assistant who had been complicating things every time he opened his mouth. "Oh, shut up already. Couldn't you be more like your boss...? She seems delighted with me..."

Knowing which way the wind was blowing for the assistant, with his Platonic "loyalty" he had for his boss, Sora's words instantly infuriated Ryuji. "Bastard!" He lunged at Sora inside the car, surprising Gear and Jackie, who witnessed the sudden exchange of blows.

Both attacked and blocked each other's punches with their hands before Sora's arm blurred and escaped Ryuji's sight, even though he was using his Sandervista.

Sora showed no mercy and delivered a strong, sharp blow to Ryuji's neck, closing his trachea and causing Ryuji to slam against his seat, struggling to breathe.

As he convulsed in his seat, Sora sighed and said, "Hmm... I've been wanting to do that for a while. I hope this teaches you to behave and keep your mouth shut as much as your eyes. I'm tired of enduring the murderous intent that seeps every time I talk to your boss or turn my back to you... next time..."

Sora abruptly stopped and disappeared from everyone's view inside the spacious vehicle. Suddenly, he reappeared, holding Ryuji's hair, bringing Ryuji's face, still struggling for air, within inches of his helmet. Simultaneously, his two blue lines as eyes lit up intensely, exuding an eerie menacing glow. 

"Your boss is going to have to find you a replacement, after not finding you behind her sniffing her farts... anymore." Sora concluded with a threat that cut through the air. With an indifferent gesture, Sora pushed Ryuji's head back into his seat.

Ryuji, whose childhood was marked by the hardships of the streets of Hong Kong, was fortunate to be rescued by Miriam Night on a business trip. She took pity on him and provided an opportunity, preparing him to be Sienna's assistant and bodyguard.

However, Sora's actions made Ryuji feel a sense of return to his childhood days when he was just a helpless child. Despite his attempts to conceal his fear, the unmistakable murderous intent emanating from Sora, giving undeniable weight to his threat, seeped into Ryuji, making him believe every word of it.

Gear and Jackie had mixed feelings. On one hand, they reveled in seeing the annoying and arrogant assistant to Night Corp's CEO getting what he deserved. However, another part of them felt sorry for him, especially due to the brutality with which it was carried out.

This feeling made them audibly swallow as they watched the Mercenary, who had always been kind to them until that moment. After witnessing what happened, both independently came to the same conclusion: they never wanted to become the focus of the intense murderous intent that Sora had just displayed, that felled through their bones and chrome.

In this atmosphere, the car doors opened again. "Everything okay?" Hiroyuki asked after seeing the car shake from outside. Without having to imagine too much about the reason,, seeing the Night Corp employee with eyes stained by fear, clutching his bruised throat. Hiroyuki looked at the culprit and sighed, "Ahmm... Seriously?"

As if it were déjà vu, Sora replied, "What!? I haven't done anything!"

-

Meanwhile, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta teams positioned themselves at the entrances of their respective access points: Little China in Watson, Charter Hill in Westbrook, Wellspring in Heywood, and Arroyo in Santo Domingo.

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma teams entered the sewers through Night Corp's small maintenance warehouses.

Delta team, led by Morgan and an individual with a helmet featuring two pointed ears and a black leather jacket that couldn't entirely conceal her slender figure despite age, accessed the Santo Domingo Drain Canal through a large drainage culvert blocked by grates that sank into the ground as they approached.

Alpha team, led by the Sargent Max Hammerman, left the imposing Mobile Center and most vehicles outside, entering through the maintenance road with four heavily armed vehicles and the remaining 50 mercenaries and Alpha team agents on foot.

Once inside, Night City's sewers sprawled like an underground network, dark and damp, with an unsettling flow of artificial disinfectant liquid, with a very low pH being highly corrosive, flowing through central channels.

It was a dense, pearlescent and iridescent fluid, fluctuating with the agents' and mercenaries' lanterns. The chemical fragrance mixed with the rancid odor of waste and the tint of rusted metal, creating an indescribable stench.

Inside an armored vehicle resembling an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier), the sergeant checked the status of the other teams. "This is Alpha team, report," he ordered while examining the holographic screen reflecting the progress of other teams in the intricate sewer system.

["Beta team, no issues so far, sir,"] replied Frost, Beta team leader.

["This is Morgan, nothing to report at the moment"] added Morgan from Delta team.

In the absence of their report, the sergeant stared at the screen displaying Gamma team, which had come to a sudden stop, when Gamma team's Netrunner, responsible for using the Signal Tracker, ordered everyone to halt upon seeing activity on the green tracker screen, encountering what seemed to be the first signs of enemies.

The Tracker was a portable and compact device. with a handle and a green screen, equipped with simple motion detector-like software. Shaped like a 45-degree wedge covering approximately 100 meters forward.

The software design made the Netrunner sure that the "bastard" who created it had a twisted sense of humor, resembling the motion detectors from the old 'alien' movies emerging from human chests.

"It seems we have enemies approaching! 80 meters!" warned the Netrunner, as red dots updated on the green screen like a sonar, accompanied by an unsettling beeping that increased in rhythm as enemies approached.

["Alright, everyone heard it. Get ready,"] resonated the voice of Bryce Mosley, the NetWatch agent assigned to the Gamma team, through the APC's speakers after taking full control by connecting through his neck's neural port.

All Beta team members aimed their weapons at the gloomy path ahead. In the front were regular NCPD agents, raising their standard-issue weapons. Among them was Agent Simmons, who was suddenly pushed by Viper. Simmons feared the worst until Viper said, "Get out of the way, Birdie."

Viper was followed by his burly companions, all carrying heavy weapons, replacing the "weak" front line of NCPD agents. They were mercenaries affiliated with the Animals gang, evident from their large bodies full of artificial muscles and swollen veins.

Bullets echoed in the air, followed by the sound of casings hitting the ground. A few seconds later, after mowing down the two dozen Hollows charging towards them without posing a threat, people celebrated and rejoiced.

However, the Netrunner's back chilled as they suddenly sensed more enemies, far more than before, causing them to stutter, "M-more foes!"

Everyone tensed again and silently aimed their weapons as the sound of scratches and incoherent noises, resembling growls, that sent shivers down their spines, growing more prominent.

Gripping their weapons tightly to the continuous beeping of the tracker, until a new alarm sounded, surprising everyone, especially the Netrunner, as dozens of arrows appeared on the sides of the wedge on the Tracker's screen.

The Netrunner was paralyzed, unsure of what to say, when he turned the tracker, and on the screen appeared the same or even more enemies, like an endless horde, closing in from behind.

Within minutes, the scene turned chaotic, filled with gunfire and desperate screams. The leaders of the other teams watched helplessly as the point representing Beta team disappeared before their disbelieving eyes.

Morgan was the first to react, knowing what the enemy was planning and what would happen next. "SERGEANT, WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW!

"To all teams, move to the final rendezvous point! ASAP! The enemy has unleashed everything they have and intends to exterminate us one by one!" Morgan ordered through the communication system before suddenly... ["ZHV-Ag-ZVZ-re-HMZ-ed"] filled with interference.

Morgan turned to the other person inside Delta team's APC and said, "The situation has changed; you can take that off now. We had to shake the hive, and we did. I hope the kid can fulfill his part."

Rogue took off the Okami helmet she was wearing, aware of what awaited them, and said with a touch of concern she couldn't entirely conceal, "Morgan, we need to hurry!"

"Yeah, warn everyone..." Morgan affirmed and cut the tip of one of his stogies, thinking it could be the last one, adding, "Gamma team was the closest to us; that means-"

He couldn't finish when Rogue completed the sentence as she exited the APC to mobilize the rest of the team. "We're the next targets of the horde."

-

Inside the car, Hiroyuki from the driver's seat, introduced an imposing-looking man. "So-Hmpt, Okami, Jackie, Gear, let me to introduce a fellow Netwatch agent and one of the best: the Magnificent Curtis."

Curtis, an Haitian man with an impressive mane of elegant dreadlocks, nodded with a friendly expression, said "Pleasure to meet you all"

Although Sora had already heard about Curtis, especially from Hiroyuki. Like how he had earned the nickname 'Magnificent' in the Netwatch branch in Australia for his focus on hunting wanted Netrunners.

He had also heard about Curtis from his fellow haitians from Pacifica, who considered him a traitor and hate him for his involvement in creating the Netwatch branch in their district.

The four black off-road vehicles comprising Sora's team utilized a spacious elevator/freight lift exclusively known to Miriam, Richard Night's widow, within the Night Corp headquarters. Following the introductions, the elevator completed its descent through the city's sewer section, unveiling the underground view of Night City.

Before them stretched a vast environment capable of accommodating the entire city. Towering columns rose hundreds of meters towards the ceiling, with enormous lanes running from top to bottom of it.

This view immediately prompted Jackie to ask about the gigantic subsoil of the city, without understanding who would excavate such a vast space to construct the city atop it.

Ryuji, the silent Night Corp assistant up to this point, shot Sora a warning look, signaling him not to respond to the question. However, Sora disregarded the signal and chose to share what he had learned in the meeting with Sienna and Miriam Night.

"It's the core of Night City's GeoFront system." Sora revealed, contemplating the vast space through the window, the very system over which the Master held partial control and utilized to bring down Night Corp's ten server buildings.

---

I finally have the computer!... (Again). I received it today. So, while I install everything and make sure it doesn't fail, I'm sharing what I've written. As always, I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to comment because you know it helps a lot!

P.S. For those who want to read the chapters in advance, I'm uploading what I write on my Patreon. I'll leave the link in the comments.

P.S. Part II: Thank you so much for your comments on the previous chapter, as I mentioned, they are what keeps me writing this novel, along with the support from the people on my Patreon. Thanks again.